The Flair Equine Nasal Strips, which sell for about $12, vaguely resemble shields. Invented by two veterinarians, the company claims the product naturally enhances performance. That includes “reduced airway resistance” as part of reduced fatigue and improved respiratory health.

The strip caused a brief stir last month when Art Sherman, Alan’s father and California Chrome’s trainer, said that the horse may not run in the Belmont if he couldn’t use the strip. The New York Racing Assn., which turned down a request to let I’ll Have Another use the strip at the Belmont in 2012, quickly clarified that California Chrome was welcome, nasal strips and all.

Inspired by California Chrome’s experience, another company that makes nasal strips -- these ones are for humans -- plans to distribute 50,000 of them to Belmont spectators Saturday.

Alan Sherman, though, speaks about California Chrome’s strips as a sideshow. No other horses at the family’s Sherman Racing Stables in Los Alamitos wear them.

Miami Heat star LeBron James is being criticized by a lot of non-athletes who feel he should have toughened up and played at the end of a Game 1 loss to San Antonio on Thursday despite suffering from severe cramps. Isiah Thomas, who knows a little something about playing through pain in the NBA...

The playoff picture became clearer in the East on Monday when the Tampa Bay Lightning clinched a postseason berth, but it grew more muddled in the West when the Kings lost to the Chicago Blackhawks and Calgary and Vancouver won their respective games.